Chapter 10: 6:06:06
“Vice! Vice, are you okay?!”
“You didn’t get bitten, did you?! What a disaster on your first day!”
Sofia and Daxon surrounded Birkin in a fuss as she returned to the office. They weren’t wrong. What a nightmare to go through on her very first day of assignment.
Birkin let out a deep sigh, pressing her forehead out of habit.
“Is Liam Moore always like that?”
“Gasp, you called the Mad Dog by his name…”
“That’s bad! Really bad, Vice Redfield!”
“Why?”
Daxon furrowed his soft brows with all his might. He probably meant to look threatening.
“His name is taboo! People avoid saying it so they don’t get dragged into something.”
“Is getting involved with him that dangerous?”
“He’s got the worst personality!”
Daxon shook his head in disbelief, like it was common knowledge. To be fair, Birkin also thought Liam Moore’s temperament didn’t seem great.
But surprisingly, Sofia came to his defense.
“Well, wouldn’t anyone go a little nuts being stuck out in the boonies with that level of skill?”
“What do you mean, ‘stuck out’?”
“Huh? You didn’t know? The Mad Dog is here by headquarters’ orders.”
Birkin’s eyes widened. A grand mage of his caliber should be coddled and prized by headquarters. But he was sent here—by order?
Daxon chimed in.
“Headquarters wouldn’t take him because of his nasty attitude.”
“What? I heard he got demoted because of an incident.”
“Really? …What incident?”
“They say he killed someone.”
All the rumors about Liam Moore sounded like urban legends. But even among the wild tales, there were bits to glean.
“Thing is, hardly anyone’s seen him use magic.”
“Why not?”
“Who knows. Today was the first time I saw it myself.”
The empire’s only grand mage—with no one knowing how or even if he uses mana.
With the scraping sound of a chair, Herion stood up. He was someone who rarely even used the bathroom during work, so Sofia and Daxon glanced at him curiously.
He walked over to Birkin.
“Vice Redfield, the documents you mentioned this morning—I’ve transcribed them all onto parchment.”
“Oh, the ones that had an error when I tried to send them via the clock earlier? You copied them onto parchment?”
“…I didn’t do it by hand. I used the imprinting magic pen from the tower.”
The imprinting pen automatically wrote designated content onto parchment. It was one of the top-selling items in the magic tower.
Still, Birkin looked at Herion with admiration. In a team filled with rookies, Herion was a godsend with a true sense for the job.
“Mr. Lutt, really…”
“…Yes?”
“You’ve got excellent work sense. It’s hard to believe you’ve only been here for six months.”
At that moment, the tips of Herion’s ears turned red. But Birkin didn’t notice, too focused on reading the parchment he handed over.
After a pause, Herion finally spoke—he seemed to clear his throat a few times first.
“You… don’t seem like it’s your first day either, Vice.”
“Well, I’ve done similar work before. But today’s the only hard part. I went to Chief Edd earlier and switched my clock settings to the Deepdale branch.”
Still seated, Birkin raised her wrist toward Herion. He silently looked down at it.
While Herion simply gazed at the clock, Sofia and Daxon sprang into action.
“Vice! Does that mean your clock’s working now?! Ah, tell me your gear number!”
“Me too, me too!”
“…You’re that desperate to know your boss’s gear number?”
I wasn’t like that.
Though perplexed, Birkin gave them her gear number. Sofia and Daxon immediately lifted their left wrists and began adjusting their clocks.
Though these were work-issued clocks and everyone switched to personal ones after hours, Birkin still disliked sharing gear numbers. Back at HQ, she avoided learning anyone’s number unless absolutely necessary.
As Birkin watched the two set their clocks, her own suddenly vibrated softly.
A notification.
From: 6:06:06.
“…Who is this?”
—It’s me, Herion.
“It’s me, Herion.”
Birkin looked up to see Herion speaking into his wrist nearby. She stared for a moment, then chuckled.
“Even you, Mr. Lutt… Haha, what’s so great about knowing your superior’s gear number? All you’ll get are more tasks.”
Her laugh brought silence to the room—just like when she first arrived and had teared up looking at her new desk.
“I-I think it’s great! Vice is the best!”
“Me too! I love seeing you smile, Vice! You look so lo— Ow! Sofia, why?!”
“Don’t spout nonsense to your boss’s face. Just save the number!”
With everyone now connected via gear numbers, the four began to rise from their seats. It was time to head downstairs and discuss consultation duties with Team 2. With Vice now onboard, it was time to divide responsibilities.
Since their office was on the second floor, they took the stairs instead of the teleportation lift. As they walked down, Daxon asked nervously:
“Um… This will be my first time doing actual consultations. Do you think I’ll do okay?”
“Just do what you saw during your internship.”
Birkin didn’t sugarcoat it. Just do what you saw then. It wasn’t like they were new to this.
Soon, they arrived at the first-floor consultation room, where Team 2 staff were busily at work. Most of them were unfamiliar faces to Birkin.
“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt—do you know where the deputy of Team 2 is?”
“Uh… over there.”
“Thank you.”
Behind her, Herion and the two “chicks” followed closely. Deepdale’s consultations had always rotated between Team 1 and Team 2, so today Team 2 was still around to assist.
“Hello, Deputy. I’m Vice Birkin Redfield from Team 3.”
“Ah, the one I met this morning… Nice to see you again.”
“Yes, likewise. Chief Edd said Team 2 would be helping until today.”
“Hmm, that’s right…”
Birkin continued the conversation with ease. Despite being low-ranked, as the acting head of Team 3, she couldn’t let herself be underestimated.
She intentionally acted more formal than usual. After all, promotions were up to the Chief, not the deputy from another team.
Herion, Daxon, and Sofia began taking over shifts from Team 2 staff. While Herion handled things smoothly from the start, Daxon and Sofia fumbled a bit at first but quickly grew used to the tasks.
As the day neared its end and the others had already returned to the office, Birkin—now in charge of the site—gathered her team.
“We can start wrapping up now. Let’s all head home!”
“Uugh, finally!”
“If I used mana for one more second, my back would’ve snapped…”
Birkin smiled at Sofia’s whining. It wasn’t actual mana exhaustion—it was just her posture stiffening from focusing too long. Still, it was endearing.
As Birkin headed back upstairs to the second-floor office—
Beep.
Her watch buzzed.
A notification from:
‘6:06:06.’
